Michael was born on June 5th in Brooklyn, NY. The first of his lineage to be born in the states, he joined an already perfect family of his father Won Yub, his mother Susie, his brother Gabriel, and his sister, Julie.

Michael's father, a surgeon, chose the small hamlet of Salamanca, NY, to begin his practice. Being the only Asian family in a small city presented its challenges, but Michael fared well, doing his best to fit in and assimilate. The adage taught to him by his father then would be something he would take with him for the rest of his life: "If you want to compete in this world, you not only have to be as good as everyone else... you have to be better."

With that as the backbone to his learning, Michael proceeded to excel in all areas, including academics, sports, and music. This well-roundedness led him to his acceptance into Stanford University.

Expecting to follow in his father's and brother's footsteps, Michael began his Stanford career as a pre-med student. Though it challenged him to new academic heights, his desire for performance continued to grow, no matter how much he tried to stifle it. To keep his sanity, in addition to his rigorous academic schedule, he became involved in student productions of musicals, and joined a sketch-comedy, a cappella group called the Stanford Fleet Street Singers.

As the years went on, the call to the Artists' Way proved too strong. Michael surrendered to it, and explored his options away from science. After his sophomore year, he followed some of his graduating friends to Los Angeles, where they were going to delve into the entertainment industry. It was a summer to remember, as he learned a lot about himself and took steps that would change his life. During that very skinny summer, Michael enrolled in a musical theater class at East West Players to satisfy his growing passion for the arts. There, he met a friend who encouraged him to audition for "Miss Saigon"...

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Michael booked the lead role of "Thuy" in the 2nd National Touring Company the summer before his senior year of college. He quickly crammed the remaining requirements for his degree into one quarter of school, and graduated early to start rehearsals in January of 1995.

After being on tour for a year, Michael was invited to take over the role on Broadway. By the time he was barely able to legally drink, Michael had achieved his lifelong dream of performing a lead role on Broadway!

With a combination of luck, talent, and persistence, Michael has been working steadily ever since. After leaving "Miss Saigon," he went on to Los Angeles to reunite with his college friends and pursue more of the entertainment business. He landed two films the following year (one short film and one feature length) but continued having success with theater. He reunited with EWP (East West Players) for their inaugural production of "Pacific Overtures" in their new theater space in downtown Los Angeles. After receiving rave reviews, he was asked to join the 1st National Touring Company of "RENT" and soon afterwards the 2nd National Touring Company. Wanting to spend more time cultivating his acting skills, he left those tours quickly, and went back to L.A.

In L.A., he started booking a few television guest star spots, but continued working in the theater. He starred in "Beijing Spring" with EWP, an original rock opera about the Tienneman Square Democracy movement. An outstanding and moving performance garnered him a Los Angeles Ovation Award Nomination for Best Actor in a Musical (Click here for a list of his fellow nominees). He also performed in another piece close to his heart that year called "Heading East" which toured California to celebrate it 150th year anniversary.

In 2000, Michael was asked to be a part of the original revival cast of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and opened the show in the role of "Simon Zealotes." Later that year, he took a leave of absence to perform opposite Lea Salonga in Singapore Repertory Theater's production of "They're Playing Our Song" in the Philippines. He returned after 6 weeks, and finished the run of JCS on Broadway.

In 2001, he returned to the show that began his career to close out its historic run on Broadway. Michael joined Lea Salonga and amazing cast as the last curtain dropped on "Miss Saigon" at the Broadway Theater.

The year proved to be a busy one, as Michael went back to L.A. and EWP to star in their production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." Immediately afterwards, he helped Barry Manilow and an extremely talented 5-person ensemble put up a world premiere production of a revue of his work called "Could It Be Magic? The Barry Manilow Songbook." Immediately following that, he joined the Bay Area Theater Company Theatreworks for one of the most spectacular stagings of "Pacific Overtures" ever seen.

2002 proved to be equally as busy, as Michael began the year in Seattle to perform in perhaps one of his favorite roles in theater... the lead role in "Making Tracks," a rock musical chronicling 6 generations of Asians in America. After a successful run with "Making Tracks," he returned to L.A. and EWP again to be in the talented 5-person ensemble cast of "The World Goes 'Round."

He then was asked to join the Disney family, to create the title role of "Aladdin" in the live stage production of the animated musical. Though a joy to work with so many fine actors and a fantastic creative staff, Michael has described the experience as "the absolute worst working experience of my life and one I very well may like to forget."

The Call of Broadway took Michael away from "The Happiest Place on Earth." In 2004, Michael was asked to portray the lead role of Kayama Yasaemon in the Roundabout Productions Broadway Revival Production of "Pacific Overtures." Though receiving rave reviews, the production proved itself to be one of the most special productions of his life, for many reasons. The first reason would be working with his lifelong hero and cultivating a relationship with Mr. Stephen Sondheim. Most importantly, he met his future wife in this production, Ms. Kim Varhola.

2005 took Michael back to the Bay Area, revisiting his multi-faceted role in "Making Tracks." In the summer, he was fulfilled another dream in portraying the role of "Judas" in the St. Louis MUNY's production of "Jesus Christ Superstar." In the fall, an original production in Singapore called upon Michael to help stage "A Twist of Fate," bringing Michael together with stage stars around the world, including Laura Michelle Kelley and Adrian Pang.

At the end of 2005 and early 2006, Michael joined the all star cast of "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" for an international tour. Fellow performers included Liz Callaway, Alice Ripley, and Max Von Essen.

This summer through the fall, Michael finds himself coming full circle, going back to the musical which began his career… "Miss Saigon" … in the All Korean Cast production of Cameron Macintosh's epic in Korea. Instead of playing the antagonist, he'll be playing the tragic hero of the show, "Chris." How ironic... that Michael had to return to the home of his father to play an American.

What next?